Authors note:This is not all that I wanted to have done. I had hoped to have all of virmire done this chapter. But this chapter, actually the whole story for the last few chapters, has been kicking my butt. Seriously, I'm not sure if it's the chapters themselves, the heat, my lack of sleep from being on nightshifts now, or what, but every chapter for this just seems to drag and not get written when normally I don't have this much trouble.

It seriously is annoying. If the next one causes me this much grief I may have to keep at it to get it done past the one month period that I'm trying to keep updates to too be regular.

Alright enough of my moping, you have a chapter to read, even If it isn't as large or expansive as I intended. Sorry about that but I hope you like it regardless.

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June 14th, 2155 – Hoc System – Virmire

xx

Liara T'soni waited until it was morning on the local planet, and for when one group in the ship seemed to change shifts. It wasn't hard as while they wouldn't let her leave the Normandy, no one said anything to her otherwise as long as she did not enter into places such as the engine room. She essentially had free reign as long as she did not get in the way, which led to most of the Alliance crew considering her presence to be in the way.

Still, it wasn't hard to find the way out of the ship. The real problem was actually leaving, because as soon as she approached the main airlock she felt queasy, and her sense of balance began to deteriorate.

"Hey, you okay?"

Liara turned to find a person's legs in front of her and looked up to find a man standing before her, braces of some kind going up from his feet to his waist. But, when had she fallen to the floor? "I.., am not sure. I wanted to stretch my legs but then I felt, odd, and my balance is . ."

"Ah, may I see your wrist?" the man asked pleasantly.

Liara looked up at him and very slowly lifted a hand.

"Ah, sorry, no, the other one. The one with the repulsion bracelet," the man clarified.

Liara did as asked, the man gently touching the bracelet and rolling it around her wrist.

"Figured as much. The battery on this thing is almost out. When were you given this one?"

"When I was brought board this ship by the spectre,"

"Aw geez, he wouldn't know, but uh. Here, come with me," the man said as he helped Liara to her feet and took her away from the airlock toward what appeared to be the cockpit of the ship. The man then opened a small compartment on the side wall and pulled out a pair of the same silver colored bracelets, holding them out to Liara. "Here, put one of these on before you take the other off."

"I was told to not take them off. Something about magic sickness, no?"

"Contamination, yeah. But most people would not wear a repulsion bracelet for more than a day or two at most. That one's about to conk out because it's been worn by you for so long and is probably working extra hard to limit those creepy biotics of yours. If you put one of the new ones on you can take the other off and I can send it to get recharged. You'll feel better too."

Liara looked at the man and carefully took the bracelet. He didn't seem to be lying, so she did as he suggested. And as soon as the new bracelet was on her wrist, the feelings of sickness and unease in her disappeared, allowing her to deftly pull off the old bracelet. "Thank you, but what is the second one for?"

"In case that one gets damaged or runs dry," the man said with a smile as he leaned back and sat in the pilot's chair. "Honestly it should have been fine, but being that we're docked in the Tower of White jade, it's not surprising. Only ship with more magic in it is probably one of the Academy ships."

"Oh, I see. is that the reason I was told not to leave the ship despite us being on a previously unknown planet?"

"I guess. I'm just the pilot, I'm not privy to information like that, but it's a good guess. I figure an unprotected Asari would probably blow apart from the inside out just from breathing the air in the Tower. Way too much magic for your bodies!"

"I see. Thank you for this. I will leave you to your work,"

" What work, we're docked!" the pilot said with a chuckle before opening what appeared to be some kind of game on one of the ships console screens.

"Um, yes, I suppose," Liara said as she quickly left the cockpit and returned to the airlock. The feeling of her balance being odd returned, though not even close to as debilitating. Taking a moment to prepare herself she looked over the second bracelet then shook her head and put in in a pouch on her waist and began touching the console. It took time, but she was able to translate the Alliance language with her omnitool and managed to get it to open.

Instantly, pain shot across Liara's body. Unlike before where she felt sick or unbalanced, her bones felt dry, and her body like it was dying, and her head like it was being stepped on. Leaning against the wall Liara grabbed at her pouch, and almost fumbled the other bracelet, but managed to put it on. As she div the feelings were lessened, but still incredibly painful.

"Goddess, the alliance must be crazy, to use such technology if it causes them this much pain!" Liara muttered as she walked out of the ship to find herself in a good sized hanger bay. On the walls, hung on trusses of some kind, looked to be rows and rows of small ships, but she could see no one around whatsoever as she began walking toward the nearest door.

It was time to leave.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"I need those coordinates, Vasir, and I need them now! I have alliances forces on my doorstep obliterating everything and I cannot beat them at this game without those coordinates!" Saren said seriously to the screen in front of him.

Tela Vasir, on the screen, looked just as annoyed as Saren did as she spoke up. "I have problems as well, Saren. I've had some holding cells break leading to experiments escaping, and reports of a group of mercenaries breaking into the facility!"

"You are sure it's not the Alliance?"

"No, but some of the reports claim an Asari is at the head of the group, so it is unlikely it is Alliance related."

"A small mercy then. How soon can you get me those coordinates? I don't care if that beast needs to die to get them!"

"That would be less than ideal. My people, and your biologists here, figure if the queen dies the others would go mad."

"Ah, I see. How long."

Tela Vasir let out a long and drawn out sigh. "It shouldn't be long. Some of my commandos' are acquiring the data with the cerebral biologist of yours. Where did you find so many people to crew this place?"

"You would be surprised how many are annoyed at some of the Council's regulations. And the Asari Republics seemingly constant ability to surpass other in those fields."

"Ah, that is true, I suppose," Tela said before being silent for many moments. "How bad do you have it there?"

"The Alliance forces have overcome this base's airfields on its outskirts and right against our walls. Reports show a lack of units, only half their usual strength attacking at this point, so I believe they are planning a final massive push to break into the facility."

"Well, that could be good then. Get them stuck in some corridors and just gun them down, nice and simple!" Tela Vasir said, making Saren let out a sigh.

"These are not soldiers that you can simply gun down. I worried it could be, but I have found proof that most of the Alliance forces are what they call Bladebreakers. Melee and assault specialists. I have video of one of them cutting four Batarians in half with a slab of metal as tall as you, and then leaping forty feet to impale a fifth. While dodging fire."

"That is impossible," Tela Vasir said simply.

"No, it is not. I have fought Alliance forces, remember! One of them took my arm with a sword, made of metal! Not an omniblade, not one of those Asari commando swords tempered by Biotics, a sword, of regular metal! If you had fought them you would understand."

"Well I don't think I should. I'll leave that to you all with the experience, and considering that Lonar's first experience was almost dying," Tela stopped as she disappeared off screen for a moment, then came back. "Good news, I got the coordinate data, sending it to you now. Should arrive by encrypted channel in about a half hour."

"Spirits, thank you. Now I can begin preparing for the last stage of my project."

"You know, everyone would be far quicker to help if they understood what your actual plan was, right?" Tela Vasir suggested wryly. "Having an army of Batarian clones is one thing, and looking for an ancient Prothean Ecumenopolis is another, but they don't seem like they would connect to each other well, even if everyone figure the Batarians are for engaging Alliance forces."

"Don't worry; it will all become clear soon. Good luck, Vasir, I hope those entering the facility are not Alliance, for your sake."

"Relax, even if they are Alliance, I can just trap them in a singularity and let their dreaded contamination sickness do the rest. I will be fine. Good luck getting out of your situation, you are the one that needs it, I think!" Tela Vasir stated before cutting the connection.

Saren simply sat in his chair for a few moments before glancing at his console, noting that it was loading the data that Vasir had sent. True to her words it would take some time, likely due to the fact it was not just coordinates, but mapping and tracking data to find the coordinates without issues. Something that would be very important very soon.

A sudden ping from his omnitool brought Saren out of his thoughts. "What is it?"

"Two reports," came the swift reply of Argok. "My men have successfully brought that Asari in. They do not believe they were spotted, but I have stationed sentries just in case."

"Good. Where is she now?"

"Going through decontamination while we scan her for any Alliance tech she did not already discard, such as tracking devices."

"Excellent. When done have her sent to the labs and tell Tashik to give her a full overview. I will meet her there in a few minutes. What else do you have for me?"

"My men reported that the Alliance forces are reorganizing their forces for another attack. I know you prefer not to hear it, but the one who was once your blood brother was sighted preparing to lead the attack."

Saren took in a deep breath of air to stop himself from yelling into his Omnitool. "How long do you believe we have until this force hits our last line of defenses on the outer walls?"

"One to two hours tops. I've already ordered our surviving gunships into the base to use them in the more open areas. With the outer refueling area destroyed earlier this morning there's little else for them anyway."

"Very good. . . . . ."

"Sir?"

"Yes, apologies, I was considering our options," Saren said as he got up and began gathering the few things in the room he used in a case. "We will need to expedite our plans. Have your best men and yourself gather by the hanger in one hour, and have all other troops ordered to their posts inside the base to protect it while data stores are purged and machinery loaded on to Tashik's own ship."

"So were abandoning the base, huh?"

"Yes. But as long as we and Tashik escape there should be little issue. He can continue his work, and we continue ours."

"Understood. What of the Asari?"

"Have the good doctor still head to Tashik's laboratory. I will meet her there. Do not worry about the neuroscientist. She will be on her own," Saren stated as a small ping alerted him that the data transfer from Tela was done ahead of schedule. "Anything else?"

"No, I'll get it done and meet you by your ship,"

"Good, see you there," Saren said as he closed the connection and made his way out of his room and began heading down the halls.

Winding down them he made his way to a small lab where Rana was working, ignored her, and went across it to his own personal lab. It was simple and sparse, less a lab and more a storage room for his encrypted computer, his connection to Sovereign, and where he kept the first Prothean beacon he had found. Barely a second of standing in front of the one computer, Sovereign's image formed in front of him, somehow seeming impatient despite not having a discernable face.

"I have the coordinates and the data. I will be leaving this planet shortly to head to find the Conduit and find the controls on the Citadel itself.

"AND?" Soverign asked, its voice making Sarens mechanical arm quiver.

"I will put out the bounty for pirates to strike the Citadel alongside the planned time of your own strike. With how much money I am offering there will certainly be takers, and I shall send my own three ships to attempt to land and terrorize the inhabitants as well. It will be done."

"SEE THAT YOU DO! YOUR RACE WILL HAVE LITTLE CHANCE FOR THE FUTURE, SHOULD YOU FAIL!"

"I will not."

"WE WILL SEE," Sovereign stated before cutting the connection, leaving Saren alone with his thoughts.

His actions would kill thousands, but it was not the first time. His species would be the better for what he was doing, and it would galvanize the Citadel to take their war to the Alliance with the data he had secretly placed in key places on the extranet and on the Citadel in closed containers. Once their timers went off, their data would be released, and the alliance would be blamed for everything he was about to do.

"I am too far to back out now anyway. The Spirits will see my actions as right,"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After leaving the Alliance encampment with surprising ease and rendezvousing with a trio of Batarians Liara was led through the jungles and back to Sarens base through a thin, narrow, and uncomfortable underground tunnel. She was then given the chance for a decontamination shower while her gear was checked for bugs, and found it to be the cleanest she had felt in weeks.

She was then led to what appeared to a narrow laboratory or perhaps a research area where a number of machines were doing things with the strangest objects she has ever seen. Some seemed to be idols or perhaps statuary, while others almost looked likes pieces of machinery. All of the pieces had one similarity between them in their color and material. It was a very dark blue in color, and her omnitool could not make out the material.

"An Omnitool won't help much here, Doctor," spoke a Turian in a lab coat as he walked up to Liara and held out a very high-powered scanner that looked like it might have been medical at one point. "Try this."

Liara took the scanner and switched it on. Her eyes went wide seconds later from the data the scanner began showing her. "This, this is unbelievable! The amount of heavy materials and unknown particles; whatever this thing is it could be truly indestructible!"

"It could be, yes. I figure it's made out of the same material as the relays are," the Turian said with a chuckle. "Tashik, head researcher here, for how much longer we are here, of course. I hope Argok and his men were not too hard on you, Doctor T'soni?"

"You know who I am?" Liara asked uncertainly as she put down the scanner, but found herself staring at the object for a second longer than she figured she should before looking to Tashik.

"Of course. Saren told me you would be coming and having a Prothean expect here would be very helpful to my research as, I am not quite sure these are Prothean, but I believe they may be from the same time period. Archeology is not where my skills lie."

"I see. May I ask your specialty then?"

"Biology and metallurgy, a strange combination, I know, but I specialize in trying to make mechanical connections to biological systems. Cybernetics and mechatronics," He said as he gestured for Liara to follow as he walked toward a desk with boxes upon it, and a pile of data slates beside the boxes.

"I see, that is interesting but-,"

"You want to know why you are here right? I was getting to it. Saren will be here in a bit to talk to you, but figured you would be more comfortable here in my lab than out with the soldiers who are all worried about coming under attack at a moment's notice."

"Oh, I see. Do you know how long until he arrives?"

"No. most of our outer defenses have been destroyed by those Alliance monsters, so the base is currently working on early warning abandonment protocols. If you would like to do something while waiting you can help me gather some of these slates and the artifacts from around the lab. Can't let them fall into Alliance hands when they will just destroy them, after all!"

"Very well, though I do not know how much help I can be," Liara admitted as she came over to the desk and looked in one of the boxes, seeing dividers for all of the data slates to be protected. As she began sliding them into place she noticed that Tashik was unhooking some machines, and then noticed one data slate that was a little different than the others. Picking it up she noticed it was unlocked, so she opened the file and instantly felt confused by the title of the documentation she was seeing.

Ragnarok Operations Plans

Looking up and seeing Tashik still busy she scrolled down, becoming more and more worried as she did. Making a decision she connected it to her Omnitool and began copying the data as she began placing the other data slates in the boxes.

"Tashik, may I ask you a question?" Liara asked as she put the last dataslate in the box, and disconnected her omnitool from it as she did.

"Yes of course, what would you like to know?" Tashik responded as he turned and began walking over with a glass case holding one of the strange artifacts.

"What is Saren's intention? I mean, I heard he attacked Eden Prime, and that seems, less than ideal for peace.

"Peace is not an option, Doctor," Saren declared as he walked into the room, having heard Liara's question from the doorway. "The Alliance is a danger to all of galactic peace. Look at what they did to the Batarians. Almost destroyed their whole culture, and then instead of properly governing over them like they should have done, they just toss them to the council, as if they do not care about what they do. Everything I am doing is to preserve galactic peace and the continued prosperity the galactic community currently has. Prosperity that the Alliance is intent on tearing down for their own amusement."

"Ah, I see I, I am sorry. I did not mean to sound condescending, I was just curious," Liara quickly said, knowing that angering a Spectre could be a very bad thing for her.

"It is fine, Doctor. I know my means may seem heavy handed, but they are what is needed. I am sure you yourself have seen what the Alliance does in our territory, no?"

"Yes, I have," Liara said darkly. "They destroyed ancient Prothean ruins, ruins still not fully understood, without even thinking about it. They do not care about galactic history at all."

"No, they do not. Their ignorance to the past, and of the galaxies stability is why we work to undo them," Saren said as he stopped just a meter from Liara. "I hope my people were not too rough with getting you out?"

"No, they were very civil actually," Liara replied in honest surprise. She had expected to be dragged away when she had found that Sarens contact were Batarians, yet they had been very pleasant in leading her away. Of course that did not change what she had seen on that one data slate, so she had to be very careful.

"That is good. And I apologize, but we will have very little time to talk. The Alliance forces are massing to destroy this base and everyone in it, so I would like to ask you to assist and then leave this base with Tashik here. He can lead you to our organizations base and find work suitable for you if you wish, or can organize travel to bring you back to council space, once it is safe to do so. Does that sound fine to you?"

"Yes, of course. I am thankful for this, truly. Being trapped on an Alliance ship by Spectre Kyrik's orders was . . .stifling."

"I can imagine so," Saren said before looking over to Tashik. "I need to speak to you for a moment about some of the projects continuation once you are set up elsewhere.

"Alright, lets talk in the office," Tashik said as he gestured to a small room off to the side and walked over to it. Saren followed, and as soon as the door closed behind them Tashik's expression went strange. "So, what is the real plan for the good doctor?"

"Just as I said. I want her to leave with you and to bring her to the main base. Your work should continue with everyone else in the organization, and I am sure she can be convinced to join. If not, well, I am sure you and the others can think up enough excuses to keep her tied down until she does agree to join, no?"

Tashik grinned. "I'll make sure to have her help pack and unpack some of those artifacts then. If she is of weak will she will be convinced to join rather easily."

"Good. Whatever interest Nihlus had in her, I do not want him, or the Alliance, getting ahold of her. And her knowledge will still be useful to all of us."

"I don't doubt that. I honestly can only make so many assumptions about those artifacts on my own," Tashik said before looking straight at Saren. "How long until we need to leave?"

"Soon. The quicker you get out of here, the better. I will be leaving as soon as Argok has his best men prepared. I have ordered him to give orders to all the forces to defend their locations to the death, and I plan to be gone in under two hours."

"That is fine. I can be out of here in less than that. I just need to make sure I have all of my equipment and the artifacts. It's a good thing most of my machines pack easily."

"That was the intent in getting them," Saren said simply as he glanced out the window at Liara. "Are all of the combat suits ready?"

"They are and are awaiting pilots in the armory. I assume they shall be used to slow the Alliance?"

"You may assume that. I will see you in the future."

"I certainly hope so; it would be a major blow for the whole organization if you were to die."

"It would, yes," Saren said as he turned and left the office, heading over to Liara again, and noting that she had been watching them out the corner of her eyes while packing things. "I apologize, but I need to tend to my forces and their preparations for abandoning the base. I hope we can talk more when we are safe elsewhere, doctor."

"Yes, of course. Please, do not let me keep you," Liara responded automatically before giving Saren a slight smile. "I look forward to what we can speak of later."

"As do I, Doctor. Stay safe and listen to Tashik, he will get you out of here," Saren said before turning and briskly walking out of the lab. Staying too long made his mechanical arm feel odd. As he walked down the halls, turning toward the armory, his Omnitool began beeping at him. "What is it, Argok?"

"Reports. The jungle is on fire, and the Alliance is moving in force."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The jungles of Virmire, once pristine and natural, were now a twisting chain of scarred and scorched paths. Having the Bladebreaker forces in cycles had made clear path through the jungles over the past few days, but now that nearly everyone was acting at once, a massive onslaught moving to claim the base and end Saren's madness, they were simply not wide enough for that many people to move quickly all at once.

So Utsuho had offered an answer. Burn the whole jungle down.

It started with her Earthrazers firing parabolic blasts of flame magic and pulse weapons out into the jungle at random angles, looking to cause as much destruction as possible. The fires began spreading quickly, magic forcing the flames to eat up as much as possible to keep itself going instead of being put out by the humidity filling the jungle.

Then came the accelerants, canisters of chemical that as soon as they landed far into the jungles erupted and turned the fires into a true hell storm.

The STG forces were very vocally against it, saying that damaging an unknown ecosystem to such a degree was criminal.

They went dead silent when Utsuho herself ascended above the Alliance forces and began firing her main cannon into the firestorm, burning and incinerating paths onto the whole jungle while causing the STG's omnitools to scream about radiation warnings.

"So, you sure about this?" Adaaya asked as she stepped up beside Desolas, who was, disturbingly, standing at the edge of the jungle and watching it burn.

"Yes. She can't be of any use stuck in the ship thinking about things. She needs to get out and work through her issues, especially after Kaiden gave her such a thorough reaming with Chakwas."

"Well, there is that, but I was meaning about burning the forest down to get at the base. Just our group could have probably snuck or flown in, right?"

Desolas was silent for a moment before sighing. "My brother is not so dumb as to not be prepared for an infiltration group, and that base had AA guns, likely more than just the anti-ship batteries from before."

"Fair . . . . so I assume you're going to beat him senseless before killing him when we catch him?" Adaaya asked curiously.

"Depends on what he tries or says honestly. My hopes are not high though. He doesn't seem sane anymore, and making an army of Batarians is just idiotic. He has a lot to answer for."

"Well yes, but no one is-," Adaaya stopped midsentence as Utsuho flew down and landed just a few meters ahead of them, her control rod radiating excess heat off of it.

"Give it a minute or so and the radiation will be low enough to be safe. I burnt the paths all the way to the edge of the base. Didn't want to blow the walls apart prematurely as that would make it difficult for some of our people."

"It would make it difficult to end this without a body," Youmu muttered from nearby as she walked over, followed by Nihlus who had, just the night before, gotten an accelerator round through his forearm by a lucky shot. He looked fine now, though.

"As long as one of us confirm that Saren is dead it should be the end of it. A body isn't needed if there's no way a body could survive," Nihlus added before glancing at the flames. "You Alliance really do not care about collateral damage, huh?"

"There's nothing here that could be considered collateral, no cities, just a pirate's base and illegal research," Yuugi said from where she was sitting nearby with a smile. "Honestly, bombing this place from orbit would work if we didn't need to be sure that spectre was dead."

"There's no helping it, my brother is slippery. I won't believe he is dead till I see his corpse myself!"

"Well then, we should get this going," Adaaya said with a grin. "Do you want to rally the troops, or shall I?"

"I'll do it," Desolas said as he walked away from the group a bit, and then jumped up onto a broken tree trunk that had managed to not get lit aflame. "Alright all of you, you know how assault missions work, so I will not bore you with that. The target for this mission is the Council Spectre, Saren Arterius. His death is what this mission needs and anyone in that base who gets in your way is free game. Any information of note that anyone's finds should be added to the operation network, and if anyone sights Saren that information is to be put up immediately, as well. Be aware that Saren is a Council Spectre with years of experience in combat, and is a skilled Biotic. Do not engage him unless you believe yourself capable of doing so without dying instantly or being caught by his Biotics! As you all have been fighting you know what we will likely encounter inside. Any questions!"

No one answered, though the sounds of weapons being calibrated or sharpened did not die down.

"Alright, then lets get this fight started! Bring their heads to the ground and give the Ferryman of Styx a week of overtime. Charge!" Yuugi suddenly yelled as she stood up and threw a fist into the air. The result were screams and roars as the whole Army began charging forth, parting around the group of operatives as they surged into the burnt hellscape and towards the base. After a few seconds Yuugi turned to Desolas and smiled. "You need to work on getting the troops pumped up."

"So it seems," Desolas said with a sigh as he turned to Adaaya and Nihlus. "Let's get our squad and join in."

"No complaints from me, I'll go grab them. Should be at the back," Adaaya said as she flew up and over the throngs of soldiers surrounding them."

"Um, where is the other one?" Nihlus asked after a second of looking around.

"If you mean Yuyuko, she is back in her ship. We're the ones who will be attacking, while she volunteered to act as backup," Utsuho said, causing Youmu to sigh.

"She just wanted a nap."

"Eh, let her sleep. You coming?" Yuugi said as she looked to Youmu and Utsuho.

"Nah, I think I'll supply support from above as most of my troops joined the main force," Utsuho said before her wings beat and propelled her up into the sky.

"I will join in. Maybe I'll take that Turian's other arm this time," Youmu said with a shrug as she began walking off with Yuugi, making Nihlus go wide eyed from how casually it was said.

"Do you have a camera?"

Nihlus turned to Desolas, who was standing there surprisingly calmly. "In my armor?"

"Yes. Do you?"

"I do, though it seldom gets used," Nihlus admitted.

"I would turn it on then. Adaaya and I have had cameras in our armor going since this mission began on Eden Prime," Desolas said as he tapped a spot on one shoulder.

"Why though? I was under the impression operatives did not need any oversight, just reporting their missions."

"Technically true, but we figured as this mission was occurring with you, and in Council territory, it would be a smart decision in case things got, complicated."

". . .you expect them too?"

"They already have. We've fought other Spectre's, proving that the organization is not united in their means, and that the Council cannot control them," Desolas said as he raised a hand up level with his chest and clenched it a few times. "And something feels, wrong."

"What do you mean?"

Desolas shook his head. "I am not sure yet," he admitted before some noise drew his and Nihlus's attention to see Adaaya walking over with Tali, Kaiden, Ashley, Wrex and Garrus in tow. "But I will find out. Alright, everyone ready to join the siege and end this madness?"

Everyone gave affirmative responses.

"Good. It's time to kill my brother!"